The SWIMS Network Board guided decision making on the the implementation of the SWIMS system and continues to guide decision making on its use and sets priorities for its development. A record of discussions and decisions is available in the meeting minutes of the Board.
In order to prioritise the workload of the core team and everyone involved in managing the system and supporting library staff with using it, there is a tasks log which lists all the work areas to be covered and the priorities which the Board allocates to each. It is necessary to prioritize SWIMS development and investigation work, as testing and implementing can be time-consuming, and capacity can be limited. Approval for any major developments or developments requiring funding have to go before the Change Advisory Board (CAB), which is the NHSE (WE&T) oversight group.
If you wish to request that a particular development is considered, please see below.
The priorities in order.
- Essential work to maintain system security
Certain developments are essential to make the system secure.
This work can be carried out by the Core Team without reference to the SWIMS Board. - Essential work to ensure the system is fit for purpose
This includes investigating bugs which come to light whilst colleagues carry out normal workflows (often but not exclusively after an upgrade) and which need possible system development work.
This work can be carried out by the Core Team without reference to the SWIMS Board. - Desirable minor developments and investigations which are uncontroversial and can be implemented quickly
These might include field label changes.
This work can be carried out by the Core Team without reference to the SWIMS Board. - Other major investigations and development work
These need to be individually prioritised by the SWIMS Network Board. SWIMS users are able to contribute to this decision making via their Board representative – details of representatives are available here. Once agreed by Board, this will then be taken to the Change Advisory Board.
- Essential work to maintain system security
These have the following priority order:
- Potential developments raised in the SWIMS groups, or potentially useful enhancements which come to light to the system managers especially during upgrades. All SWIMS users are welcome to submit ideas for SWIMS development via the relevant SWIMS group or the Core Team whether small improvements to the screens, or ideas for more major enhancements, or changes in working practices. These ideas will then be discussed within the relevant group.
The SWIMS Network Board will determine priorities, via criteria such as benefit to the highest number of library services – please see the process below.
The Core Team and/or module group members can be expected to assist with testing of development work and advising on the best implementation.. - Development work for a particular library service which is specific to that service. Libraries looking for location specific investigation or development work should contact the Core Team in the first instance – please see the process below.
- Potential developments raised in the SWIMS groups, or potentially useful enhancements which come to light to the system managers especially during upgrades. All SWIMS users are welcome to submit ideas for SWIMS development via the relevant SWIMS group or the Core Team whether small improvements to the screens, or ideas for more major enhancements, or changes in working practices. These ideas will then be discussed within the relevant group.
The process for prioritising
- The proposer, e.g. SWIMS group chair or individual library manager, fills in a SWIMS development request form and sends it to the Core Team in the first instance. If in doubt as to whether a form is needed, please contact the Core Team first.
- These development requests are an agenda item at each SWIMS Network Board meeting and the Board decides the priorities. Where applicable, these requests are then put to the Change Advisory Board.
Work carried out for regular system integrity checking, and network governance, e.g. policy updating and compliance checking, is outside of this arrangement.